Jewish Poznan

The history of Jews in Poznań dates back to the first days of the city, though like so many other towns in Central and Eastern Europe this rich heritage was all but extinguished with the horrors that came with Hitler’s rise to power. Although first recorded mention of a Jewish presence is dated to 1364 it is commonly accepted that the first Jewish settlers would have arrived at some stage during the 13th century, around the time when Prince Bolesław the Pious issued a decree granting Jews his protection. As Poznań grew so did the Jewish population, as well as their reputation as money lenders and big shots in Poznań’s financial spheres. The centre of this burgeoning community was to be ulica Sukiennicza. By the start of the 15th century it’s estimated that one in four buildings on this street were occupied by Jews, a fact not lost on city planners who promptly rechristened it ulica Żydowska (Jewish Street). Find it on D-1 on our map.

But bad times were around the corner. Żydowska found itself gutted by fire twice, first in 1447, and then once more in 1464. This, and an influx of German burghers, marked a period of decline for Poznań’s Jews, though in spite of lingering racial tensions by the 1600s Poznań’s Jewish population stood at around 3,000. Most of those citizens were employed as traders and craftsmen, some enjoying trading links as far afield as Italy and Turkey. Poznań would face numerous trials over the next few centuries, including plagues, fires and invasions, though none would have as grave consequences as the ‘Swedish Deluge’ in the middle of the 17th century. Poznań was left in ruin by the invaders, and for the Jews the job of rebuilding lost businesses was made all the trickier by persistent rumours of ritual sacrifice – this reached a nadir with an infamous trial in 1736 when Rabbi Yossef was found guilty of such charges and burnt at the stake.

When the city fell under Prussian jurisdiction in the 19th century Jews slowly found themselves accepted into the fold. Following the Great Fire of 1803 they were allowed to live freely throughout the rest of the city and as such ties between Jews and Germans strengthened. In fact, so solid were these relations that the Jewish community rallied around the Germans during the 1918-1919 Wielkopolska Uprising, a fact not lost on the local Poles. When Poznań was absorbed into the Polish nation in 1919 the Jews found themselves once more on the wrong end of local hatreds, and a significant number migrated westwards to Germany, to what they thought would be a more tolerant reception.

With WWII looming Poznań’s Jewish population stood at around the 1,500 mark, a number that would vanish soon after Poznań was annexed into the Third Reich in 1939. The city was named capital of the Wartegau province, and a plan was hatched to rid the city of its Jews within three months. Deportations began on December 11 of the same year, with Jews packed into cattle trucks bound for the ghettos of Warsaw or Lublin, and on April 15, 1940, the fascist rag Ostdeutscher Beobachter gleefully reported the removal of the Star of David from the last synagogue left standing. Those who remained in the Poznań region were sent to a labour camp next to the city stadium where their duties primarily consisted of road building and other back breaking manual graft. The camp operated until August 1943, when the decision was taken to liquidate both camp and inmates. Indeed, Poznań was something of a model Nazi city, and on October 4, 1943, Heinrich Himmler gave a sordid speech to his Nazi cronies about the extermination of the Jewish people. A small number of Jews survived in hiding, and after the war several hundred returned to settle in the city. However no effort was made by the government to re-establish Jewish culture, and the subsequent anti-Zionist policies of the post-war communist government saw the number of Jews dwindle to its current number: sixty.

The Nazi’s were meticulous in their destruction of Jewish heritage and today traces of it are few and far between. The early 19th century cemetery on ul. Głogowska was destroyed by the Nazis, the tombstones used to pave roads, and the area found itself incorporated into the Trade Fair grounds after the war. A special dispensation was granted to exhume hundreds of bodies, and today you’ll find them buried in the municipal cemetery in Miłostowo. However in recent times steps have been taken to commemorate the existence of the former graveyard, and in November 2007 a memorial plaque was unveiled on (E-1) ul. Głogowska 26a. Most recently, on June 3, 2008, a ceremony took place to unveil an ohel marking the hitherto unmarked grave of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, commonly accepted as being Poznań’s greatest ever Rabbi. Previously used as a parking lot, the site of his grave has now been turned into a grassy square, and has also been renamed to honour his memory. The fate of the Jews who perished in the stadium labour camp is commemorated by a memorial which stands by the Multikino, and Poznań’s only functioning prayer house can be visited on (D-1) ul. Stawna 10. Other efforts have also been made to reintroduce Jewish culture to the city, and August sees the Annual Tzadik Poznań Festival, a feast of music aimed at celebrating the past and building bridges and opening dialogue between local communities.